


Meet the Monarch

by FerrousKyra



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Rise of Kyoshi, The Shadow of Kyoshi
Genre: Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Gen, Kyoshi's also trans, Zoryu's trans, because I felt like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 11:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FerrousKyra/pseuds/FerrousKyra
Summary: When Hei-Ran invited Kyoshi to dinnerwith the emperor,she was terrified.
Relationships: Hei-Ran & Rangi (Avatar), Kyoshi & Zoryu (Avatar), Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar)
Kudos: 27





	Meet the Monarch

Logically, Kyoshi knew that her girlfriend was from an upper-class clan (she'd never heard about before). Logically, she knew Hei-Ran was well known & renowned in her native country. Logically, (because Rangi had informed her) Kyoshi knew said country still had an emperor.

But when Rangi told her that her mother was hosting the emperor in their home, Kyoshi was... shocked.

When Hei-Ran invited her to dinner _with the emperor,_ she was terrified.

.oOo.

Kyoshi also knew that she was a poor conversationalist. & she does not think of herself as smart.

She's in all remedial classes. & though it's mostly due to her growing up on the streets, her OCD (possibly caused by autism, but no one's willing to be inconvenienced for long enough to check) doesn't help.

She's socially awkward, for the same reasoning.

All her teachers are constantly telling Kyoshi that her grammar is wrong. Even though literally everyone she's ever spoken to besides the teachers themselves also talk _just_ like her.

In short, Kyoshi's fucked.

.oOo.

Rangi sent her a Wikipedia article on Lord Zoryu. It was very informative-- is what she'll tell Rangi even though she parsed almost none of it.

She's got the basics though! He's ~~twenty-(or maybe thirty-)something~~ young. He's in the one clan Kyoshi can't begin to try to pronounce; which is rivaled by the other clan she reads as "S∰ⵉ⭓⪍₸;" which is why he's staying with Hei-Ran. Things are supposedly getting ugly with his older (half-?)brother something-something-something...

Speaking of which, Hei-Ran was his instructor at the Royal Academy **_for Girls_**. So they have a grand total of _one_ thing in common, at least.

**.o0O0O0o.**

When Kyoshi arrives, Rangi & her mother are arguing, as usual. Unusually though, they're very obviously trying very hard to stay very quiet.

_"Young lady, you are not going to waste this opportunity! We won't even have to speak English; Kyoshi doesn't ever have to know."_

_"No, mother. I will not! & neither will you. We're teenagers."_

_"Look, I'm not saying that you two have to get married; I'm just saying that this is probably the_ only _chance you'll get to have the Emperor bless your marriage. So just in case you do happen to stay with Kyoshi for that long, you'll have it."_

_"But what if she finds out! She'll think we're crazy."_

"Uh. Hi?"

"Kyoshi!" Rangi says, face doing an admirable tomato impression, "You're here."

.oOo.

"So, Kyozki," Zoryu asks "You've been awfully quit. Tell me about yourself."

Kyoshi nervously glances at her girlfriend, who silently urges her on. "Oh. I uh." He looks bored. "I started foster care when I was nine. & grade school-- well, school in general. Before that, I was on the street..."

"Interesting." He does not look interested. "Continue."

Her mouth hangs open for a second, trying to find words. "Well, my father adopted me as soon as he could. Y'know, after... that." _Think, think, think._ "Oh! You're trans!" The other ladies give her an incendiary look at that. She hadn't meant to say that part aloud; it probably offended him greatly. _Tell him you're trans too!_ "I, uh, I mean _I'm_ trans! Yep. Didn't come out until I was sixteen. I was terrified that my father would abandon me." _Too much!_ "Like my birth parents." _That's more. Just shut up._ "Yeah."

"Kyoshi." Rangi sqeaks. "Could I talk to you in private?"

She silently gets up & follows the other girl out of the room.  
  


 _"What the fuck was that?"_ She whispers.

_"I don't know; I panicked!"_

_"Ok. No more touchy subjects. That means no mentions of politics, or mental illness, or_ illegal activity _,"_

_"I think it would be easier if you made a list of what I can say."_

_"Fine. You can talk about- ... You can talk about us."_

_"Us how?"_

_"Nothing explicit, obviously. Just like, how we met, how we got together,"_

_"But you said no criminal activity. Why would we be at the lake?"_

_"Just say it was a vacation."_

_"What about you getting in a fight?"_

_"Don't mention it."_

_"What about us sleeping together that night?"_

_"DON"T phrase it like that!"_ Her eyes dart around, as if she expects Hei-Ran to turn the corner & give a speech on chastity for hours, just from those words alone. _" & don't mention that either!"_

_"Well, that's the whole story gone then."_

_"Fine. If he asks, I'll wing it."_

_"What if he asks me?"_

_"Just- Play coy & say I tell it better."_

_"Ok."_ Kyoshi hesitates to ask her next question. _"What about- What about Yun?"_

Rangi's answer is just as reluctant, if not more so. "No."

.oOo.

"Oh, I don't know nothin' 'bout that." Kyoshi says because the 'no talking about criminal activity' rule is making her not give a proper answer to any of the emperor's questions.

Zoryu looks very confused. Rangi & her mother look affronted.

Luckily, Hei-Ran steals the conversation away before she can do any more damage.  
  


 _"What did I do this time?"_ Kyoshi asks Rangi.

_"You spoke informally to a royal."_

_"Oh. What? How?"_

_"You- What? How do you not know?"_ Kyoshi shrugs. _"You made a double-negative negative. You didn't pronounce the G in '-ing' or the A in 'about' or the D in 'don't' or any T at all."_

_"Huh. Didn't notice."_

_"You did it again!"_

_"What? How?"_

_"You didn't say 'I'"_

_"So?"_

_"So, you need to include the subject of a sentence in a sentence."_

_"Since when?"_

_"Since always!"_

_"Sounds fake, but alright."_

_"_ That _."_

_"What?"_

_"_ That _sounds fake._ That. _"_

.oOo.

"What do you think, Kyoshi?" Zoryu asks. Somehow, they managed to get on the subject of gang violence. Probably his blatant xenophobia.

_Don'ttellhimyou'reinagang.Don'ttellhimyou'reinagang.Don'ttellhimyou'reinagang._

"I think it's a shame that the state--& especially the police--have done such a bad job at making people feel safe, that those people feel the need to resort to violence in order to protect their own." Kyoshi knows that's the wrong answer. She knows it'll land her in hot water. But this is a question she's actually qualified to answer; actually opinionated on. She can't bring herself to lie, or tell half-truths. "& yes, it's horrible. Violence is always horrible. Death is always horrible. But if the people who say it's their job to protect them do everything but that, then how can you blame the common people for banding together. For protecting one another."

"But what about gang-on gang violence? Surely they must be faulted for that."

"That's the worst part. They _are_ entirely to blame for their own actions; but these people are put in these places by no fault of their own. The ghettos exist because they're institutionally made that way. Gangs exist because they're institutionally made that way. The only way to stop this is to cut the head off the snake." Zoryu perks up at that. "To better these communities so the youths don't feel the need to rely on gangs--to join gangs--because there's no other option for them. They need compassion."

**.o0O0O0o.**

"So, how long am I gonna be banned from your house?"

"At least until Zoryu leaves."

"Cool."

"Don't worry. Mother loves you."

.oOo.

"So," Kyoshi says. "Did he bless our marriage?"

Rangi blanches. "Yes, actually."

"WHAT!"

"He really is quite the pushover."

**Author's Note:**

> This was entirely based on the idea I had that in a modern AU, if Kyoshi was American, she'd probably slip into AAVE without noticing. So obviously I had to put her next to the Fire Lord to see what happened.
> 
> If you're using a screen reader, I apologize. This must have been a complete mess.


End file.
